Unstoic
by Miss Akiyata
Summary: The Magic Trio leaves for an annual journey into the mountains to try resolving an issue of Norway's past that they've kept secret from the rest of the world. As his friends try to keep him from losing it, they are unaware of the four curious Nordics that have accompanied them on their journey. But what will happen when Norway finally breaks down? -Contains many funnies and feels
1. Secret Communications

**Okay, so anyway...I'm hoping this fanfic will last a good little while. I'm really excited to be working with the magic trio & the Nordics. And Norway has a painful past that he's kept secret from the other Nordics. In fact, the only ones who know are England and Romania, his two best friends that he hasn't really told anyone about either. ;) But after living with this pain for so long and each year ending in nothing but disappointment, how much longer can Norway remain stoic...?**

******Lukas/Stoicman****= Norway; ****Arthur/Mint-Bunny****= England; ****Vladimir/Vampboy17****= Romania**

**I apologize in advance if any characters seem too OOC. Also, this may (or may not) start out a little slow. I do hope that you stick around for when things really start to happen. Also, fair warning: This story is supposed to contain both funny stuff & sad stuff. **

**Enjoy~!**

* * *

Norway shifted his position as he sat up in bed, texting away on his phone. It was early in the morning, and it was rare that the others would awaken before him let alone come into his room at the Nordics house. He never openly invited them in.

This morning, he was in a chat box with an old friend of his; one that he'd never mentioned to the other Nordics. Actually, he had never mentioned anyone outside of his family, with the exception of business affairs. This is why he kept his outside conversations secret, texting only when the others of his house were asleep or elsewhere. His phone, of course, was usually left at his bedside when at home, where he knew the other Nordics would not find it, since they were not allowed in his room.

This day was different, however, because this conversation was extremely important to him._*boop*_ He glanced down at the phone in his hand, scanning the new text in the chat box.

_Mint-Bunny:__ Have you told them yet?_

_Stoicman:__ No._

_Mint-Bunny:__ Well, why not? Just come up with some damn bloody excuse. I'm sure they'll pay no mind._

_Stoicman:__ If I tell them that I'm leaving this far ahead of time, they won't leave me alone. I will tell them when I leave._

_Mint-Bunny:__ Very well...and Vlad?_

_Stoicman:__ I texted him a while ago._

_Mint-Bunny:__ And?_

_Stoicman:__ He hasn't responded._

_Mint-Bunny:__ I suppose we'll have to wait then. Call me when you hear from him. I have work finish._

_Stoicman:__ Okay._

With a sigh, Norway locked his phone and placed it on the bedside table as he got up and padded over to his wardrobe. Swinging the doors open, he peered inside and gazed across the line of hanging outfits. He settled for one of his usual uniforms, wanting to save his casual clothes for the trip he'd be leaving for soon.

He grabbed the outfit and closed the wardrobe doors before pulling out the drawr at the bottom of it to grab a fresh pair of boxers and socks. As the morning light was finally starting to peek into the room, he headed out the door and toward the bathroom.

When he'd finished showering and dressing, Norway was back in his room, which was now fully lit by the bright winter sky outside. He combed his hair neatly and placed his cross-shaped pin to one side, and just before he left the room permanently for the day, he glanced over at his phone. Remembering that Vlad had not yet contacted him, he absent-mindedly slipped the phone into his pocket and left.

* * *

Norway had been sitting comfortably in the living room for about an hour or two, peacefully sipping his freshly-brewed coffee. He let his mind wonder on about the trip he'd be on for the next two or three weeks. From there, his thoughts slipped off into memories of his past; the things he's kept mostly to himself for as long as his nation had been standing.

He almost didn't notice the large Swedish man that joined him in the quiet room. In fact, he hadn't seen him until he was brought back from his thoughts by the cheerful ring of a Finnish man's voice calling from the kitchen to declare that breakfast was almost ready.

In the next moment, a far-too-hyper-in-the-morning Danish man came sliding down the stairway railing and running into the kitchen. He was followed by a groggy Icelandic boy with a sleepy bird lying on his shoulder. Norway stood casually and made his way over to the boy, seemingly ready to start his teasing for the day.

"Big broootheeer~" the Norwegian man whispered from behind the silver-haired boy, whom greeted him with a grunt and continued on toward the kitchen.

Breakfast was fairly normal that morning. It was like every other day in the Nordic house; lots of teasing Iceland, Finland cheerfully chatting about everything, Sweden staring blankly at the rest of them, Mr. Puffin occasionally squawking remarks, and (of course) Denmark doing all of the above.

Norway had almost forgotten about the trip he'd be leaving on when his phone suddenly started ringing in his pocket.

The others stopped eating and carrying on to glance over at him as he pulled the phone from his pocket to look at the caller. If they looked surprised that someone other than themselves was calling him, they were certainly dumbfounded when he stood abruptly and walked out of the room, pulling the phone to his ear on the way out.

"Are you trying to get me caught?" Norway questioned with what would seem like no emotion.

But Vladimir knew him well enough to sense the tint of annoyance in his friend's voice. "Heh. Someone not get their coffee this morning?" the Romanian teased.

Norway's face softened ever so slightly, though no one was around to see it. He shuffled the phone, switching it into his other hand as he reached the top of the stairs and went to open his bedroom door, where he could talk in more privacy. Closing the door behind him and walking to the far end of the room, he stood and looked out the window.

"Vlad..."

"Hm?"

"Is it alright if we leave a bit earlier than usual?" Norway paused and stood quietly after he spoke, just staring out at the white fluff of snow on the landscape.

"Um...sure, I guess. If it's alright with Arthur, we could probably leave tomorrow morning."

"Alright. I would prefer to leave before the others wake up. You happened to call when I was with them, so they'll likely be sticking their noses into my business as soon as I head back down." He paused, as if pondering if he'd explained enough, then continued on. "Since I won't be telling them where we're going...I wouldn't want them to feel the need to tag along."

"Ah, yeah," Romania responded after letting his friend finish. "That would be a problem, wouldn't it?"

"Yes."  
"Huh. Well then...I guess I'll go to the store and grab some food. Want anything in particular?"

"No," Norway responded blandly. "And isn't it Arthur's turn to buy our rations?"

Romania laughed over the phone. It was a soft, childish laugh. "Come on, Lukas. Do you really want to be stuck in the mountains for three weeks with nothin' but his scones and fish?"

Norway laughed under his breath. "I suppose that wouldn't be too fun."

* * *

Before heading back downstairs, Norway decided to open a group chat with his two friends to talk about the new arrangements. It didn't take long for the Englishman to reply.

_Mint-Bunny:__ I suppose I should start packing then. How many blankets should I bring?_

_Stoicman:__ As many as you can. I will check that we have everything else._

_Vampboy17:__ Guys im at the store. what do you want?_

Much to the annoyance of England and Norway, Romania didn't care to use proper grammar in texts. However, they'd known each other for a long time and had come to accept his lazy mistakes and continue on without correcting him anymore. They at least got him to start using punctuation and stop abbreviating words so much, that way they could understand what he was trying to say.

_Mint-Bunny:__ Ooh, get some party drinks. I want to get completely arseholed!_

There was a short pause in the chat box.

_Vampboy17:__ Wow i just cant get used to your slang._

_Mint-Bunny:__ Just buy the bloody food!_

_Vampboy17:__ Oh the food is bloody huh? well i guess that makes sense since im a vampire. haha ;P_

_-Stoicman has left the chat-_

Norway growled when the chat box crashed on his phone. Internet connection could get easily messed up in the icy weather of the Nordics winter. He waited a moment, almost about to give up and leave the room when he heard the beep of his user reconnecting.

_-Stoicman has joined the chat-_

All of the previous conversation was no longer visible to him now, so he had no idea what had been said in his absence.

_Vampboy17:__ Dude what happened? you have another orgasm or somethin?_

_Mint-Bunny:__ Vlad, please refrain from speaking._

_Vampboy17:__ But it was hilarious dude. lol_

_Stoicman:__ Why am I friends with you?_

_Vampboy17:__ Haha man dont be like that. it was all fun n games. we just wanted to see what would happen._

_Mint-Bunny:__ Lukas, don't worry. I won't let this wanker pull it again._

_Stoicman:__ And why didn't you stop him last time?_

_Mint-Bunny:__ Well...Francis told me what happens when you pull it..._

_Vampboy17:__ Haha_

_Stoicman:__ You didn't answer my question._

_Mint-Bunny:__ Fine. I just wanted to see if your expression would change, okay?_

_Vampboy17:__ Hahahahaha! XD_

_Stoicman:__ ...you're sleeping on the couch tomorrow night._

_Mint-Bunny:__ Bloody hell?! That's hardly fair! I was just curious!_

_Stoicman:__ Curiosity killed the cat, dear Arthur._

Not much was said after that, so Norway placed his phone on the bedside table once again and headed back downstairs to finish his breakfast. But he hadn't realized that his conversation had taken nearly an hour, so the remains of his food had been thrown out and the kitchen cleaned.

The other Nordics were nowhere to be seen, much to his confusion, but he took it as an opportunity to head down to the basement, where he had been secretly stashing away tools and such that he would need for the upcoming annual journey. He'd made sure to place the basement under a spell; such that all of his belongings were kept in a controlled "realm" that he'd created within the room.

Norway could enter this realm whenever he pleased, and no one would be able to follow him unless they would happen to have the rare magical ability to unlock it themselves. The only other known countries that _could_ manage this were his friends, England and Romania. This one mini-realm (a room-sized realm) was also a quad-realm, meaning that it could be entered through four different locations. The four locations were these: the Nordics basement, a closet in Norway's personal home, the dungeon under England's home, and Romania's attic. This made it easy for the three to travel across countries without anyone knowing they had left. The only downside was that using the realm took a long of magical energy and could even be dangerous if overused, hence why the magic trio typically conversed through group chat.

The Norwegian man stepped into the basement and closed the door gently behind him, making sure he wasn't followed. He stood still for a moment until a faint light lit from under his feet, then began to spread out from his body. The cold pavement floor of the basement became a rustic wood-planked floor. The barren unpainted walls became like a beautiful stone fortress. The light bulb hanging from the ceiling became more of a small and creepy chandelier. The middle of the room (which had been empty) sported a large black cauldron. The large piles of useless junk along the basement walls were replaced by table stands and smaller clusters of more useful objects such as tools and supplies, as well as nicely organized shelves containing many _unique_ ingredients for spells and the such.

Norway grabbed a small notepad from one of the shelves and flipped through until he'd found the right page. Tearing the page out, he placed the rest of the pad back on the shelf and then began to check off the list. _Skis, medical kit, spell book, lanterns, matches, hatchet, axe, dogsled..._the list continued on. Not wanting to waste too much of his magical energy, he glanced around quickly for the objects on the list and mentally checked them off the list. It took him around ten minutes to finish the checklist, and he placed the paper on a table stand before exiting the mini-realm.

Little did he know that during the ten short minutes he'd been gone, the other Nordics had been lurking around his bedroom and had discovered something rather...shocking.

* * *

**Crappy chapter ending is crappy. **

**I've never done a chat conversation in a story before. Hope it wasn't too bad. There was quite a lot of it in this chapter...but there probably won't be nearly as much in later ones since the magic trio will actually be with each other most of the time. The chat names are obviously just made up by me. lol Also, sorry for Vlad's shitty texting style. But I didn't make it too bad for the sake of my own grammar-nazi-ism? and the sake of you guys trying to understand what he'd be saying.**

**Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this & hope you stick around for the rest~! Reviews are most welcome c:**


	2. Amulet

**I wasn't expecting to get this many followers with just the first chapter O_O I love you guys. I will do my best to keep it interesting~! Again, apologies if they seem a little OOC. Enjoy~!**

**Lukas/Stoicman****= Norway; ****Arthur/Mint-Bunny****= England; ****Vladimir/Vampboy17****= Romania**

**-Italicized sections are flashbacks.**

* * *

"O...orgasm?" Finland practically spit. "P-pull it?"

They were taken aback, to say the least. It was unusual for Norway to get a phonecall from someone outside of their family, especially if he didn't tell them about it. And it was certainly unusual for him to stand so abruptly and leave the room without a word or even without his unfinished coffee...but this...this just shocked the hell out of them.

Denmark folded over in laughter, curling onto Norway's bed while trying his best to muffle his loud mouth so that the Norwegian would not hear them. He'd always made jokes that his emotionless friend was probably secretly a pervert or something, but even he hadn't believed it was true. However, after sneaking into the forbidden bedroom and scrolling through a chat box, he just couldn't believe his eyes. But he seemed to be the only one that was getting a kick out of this.

Finland was nervously uncomfortable, Sweden was speechless, and poor Iceland seemed downright terrified from the images of his brother that now flashed across his mind.

After settling from his laughing fit, Denmark layed back on the bed and held the phone above him, smiling mischieviously. "I wonder what all Norge has on here that we shouldn't be lookin' at..." he purred.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" came a familiar monotone voice.

Jumping in shock (and slight fear), the group of Nordics turned their attention to the doorway, where Norway stood, glaring at them (mainly Denmark) with a blank expression and a dark aura emitting all around him.

While Finland and Iceland seemed a bit fearful that they'd been caught and Sweden had a slightly apologetic look, the Dane just sat up and laughed. "Aw, comeon Norge~!" he sang. "It's perfectly fine if you wanna do kinky things every now and then!" He threw himself into another laughing fit, not taking notice of how dark Norway's aura was becoming. It wasn't long before his laughing was cut off by sharp choking when the Norwegian man started pulling his tie.

After turning the Dane's face bright red, Norway finally released his tie, letting him fly back to gasp for air. He then grabbed his phone and pocketed it before turning to leave. He stopped in the doorway and half-turned towards the group. "Get out," he demanded with a tone a bit thicker than his usual monotone. When they got up quickly to follow him out, he turned back to the hallway and left ahead of them.

But leaving ahead of them certainly didn't mean they wouldn't catch up to ask questions, which they did. It was mainly Fin and Den asking questions, such as who his "friends" were or why the phone call had been more important than his coffee. After a bit though, Iceland joined them in hopes of getting back at his brother for being so irritating with the "Big Brother" thing.

By the time they'd made it downstairs, Norway's patience was becoming thin. With everything going on in his head already, he was finding it hard to not let his emotions show. He decided that it would be best to just answer the questions simply before losing his stoic mask. Just as he opened his mouth to speak, Sweden patiently cut in with a question.

"Arthur 's N'gland?" the tall man asked with slight demand in his voice. Though he hadn't said it before when they were looking through the chat box, he'd immediately recognized the name of which he associated as the nation he'd adopted Peter from. "M'st be. P'ter says 'e t'lked t' some fly'n mint bunny."

The other four nations stopped to face the Swedish man, looking confused (with the exception of Norway). "You are correct," the Norwegian replied rather simply.

"N who w's the v'mp boy?" he asked, staring intently at Norway. The others now looked at him expectantly as well.

"Vladimir." He wanted to just leave it at that, but the confusion of the others' faces left him without much choice but to explain further. "Romania," he stated firmly before turning away and walking off to the kitchen to fetch a fresh mug of coffee.

The other Nordics picked up on the finality in his voice (even Denmark) and decided to just leave him alone for a while; they could ask more after he had his coffee.

* * *

"Lukas!" called a voice from elsewhere in the house.

Norway turned his head slightly to stare at the entry of the living room. The other Nordics followed his eyes but saw no one and looked back at him in confusion.

"Who's that?" Denmark asked almost excitingly.

"Lukaaaassss~!" The voice seemed a bit closer than before.

Norway stood up and slowly walked to the entrance of the room. "Don't just wander around peoples' houses," he said emotionlessly, staring around the corner at someone that was out of view to the other Nordics.

"Hey, Luke." Romania smiled. "Dude, you have to see what I found." He began digging in a messanger bag hanging diagonly from his shoulder. Norway seemed to forget about his family still sitting behind him and watching him curiously. He just stared at his friend, vastly curious though not showing it. A good twenty seconds later, Romania's smile broadened as his fingers grasped a bundled cloth and pulled it from the bag.

Curiousity overwhelming him, Norway finally left the living room and walked toward his friend. He slowed his pace as he approached, watching carefully as Romania unwound the cloth around the object. Finally, the Romanian laced his slender fingers around a thin silver chain and lifted it slowly until he revealed a light-bronze-colored amulet dangling in the air.

"Where did you-" Norway lunged at the pendant (spilling hot coffee on himself) and took it into his own hands, studying it with an expression of disbelief and wonder and gently rubbing his thumb across the amulet. It was a ring that was overlapped by a celtic cross. On each section of the cross was a blue teardrop-shaped gem, and in the center was a larger, circular one. The metal held all sorts of curving and twisting designs and was stained slightly in what looked like long-since-dry blood. Norway stared into the eye of the amulet, the sapphire stone seeming to pull him in. He was brought back to reality when someone grabbed him and spoke.

"Dude, you're not gonna cry, are ya?" Romania asked, slightly amused yet apologetic.

Norway shook his head, feeling incapable of speaking. Neither of them noticed the other four Nordics now standing in the hallway watching them from a small distance.

"I found it when I was out getting the food and decided to check out the black market ahead of time." He paused to make sure his friend was paying attention. "You think it's the real deal?" he asked seriously, removing his hand from the Norwegian's shoulder and looking down at the pendant.

Norway kept silent for a moment, still rubbing his thumb along the amulet's little designs. "I could never mistake this...not for anything," he said in a longing voice, almost like a whisper. Memories began to flood his mind.

* * *

_Everything was quiet...and yet there was a loud static noise emanating through his head. It felt as if his skull would burst...as if he couldn't breathe...as if the weight of a nation had fallen onto his shoulders, crushing his memories and his heart as if trying to shrink him._

_He tried to stand but to no avail. His legs just couldn't bare the weight. Pain shot through his body with each tiny movement. His knees buckled, forcing him to the ground. He gasped and panted, and an immense cold shot through him._

_Lukas Bondevik was dying._

_Lying on his stomach, the young Norwegian man noticed something in his blurred line of sight; a bloodied heap curled into itself. Fear nearly overtaking his pain, Lukas crawled toward the lifeless body._

_"Adea," he rasped but he was too weak to call out. When he finally reached the bloody heap, he knelt down and cradled the woman's lifeless head in his lap. He was shaking from the sight of her tattered white gown. Tears poured from his eyes and down onto her pale face, sliding down her soft cheeks and into the bloodied dirt below her. "I'm so sorry, Adea," he choked as he leant down and placed his forehead against hers._

_"Luk-" *cough, cough* "Lukas," called a faint and weak voice from behind him. Turning, Lukas could see the woman's bloodied younger brother lying in the dirt, dull eyes looking up at him hopelessly. They were a bright blue-violet, an overwhelming color compared to his white skin and the pale blond hair that framed his face, and they were eyes that would forever be etched into his memory._

_"Allan," Lukas said under his breath and gently placed the woman's head down to face the boy, who smiled up at him sadly._

_The boy glanced down at his own clenched and bloody fist. Lukas followed his gaze, and the boy slowly opened his fingers, revealing a beautiful amulet, the silver chain crumpled up messily. His blood soaked into the crevices of the celtic design and stained the metal. After staring at it for a moment, he glanced back up at the Norwegian man and smiled weakly. "Heh. Will you ever act your age, Big Brother...?" joked the little blond boy. "Only babies...cry..." he said before falling into an eternal slumber._

_Lukas reached down and closed the boy's fist around the amulet and pulled it up to his lips, kissing the bloodied knuckles with care. He gave one last squeeze as tears began to once again sliver down his cheeks, and he lay down between the corpses of the boy and the woman, taking one of each of their hands in his own._

_He stared at the sky; it was bright blue, as if trying to tell him that his world wouldn't end there. It was mocking him. But he let it be, as he knew what would become of him, and all he wanted at that moment was to stay with his family while he could._

_He knew that fate was cruel and unforgiving. He had made the mistake of a lifetime; one that he would regret forever. Whether time could heal it, he didn't know...but all he could feel was nothing - and everything. Everything...yet nothing._

_He would die, yet he would be reborn. This, he knew...and to him, that was his remorse. He would live on with these memories; these mixed emotions resulting in none. He could not express the emptiness he felt, and so he would express nothing at all. This is what he decided. Without her, and without his precious brother...he could not be happy again._

_This was it. This was the day...the day that Lukas Bondevik would die and become a country._

* * *

"Hey, Lukas...Earth to Nooorgee~!" Romania sang as he waved a hand in front of the Norwegian's face, which was staring intently at the amulet in his hand, though his gaze seemed to be more distant. "Luke!" the Romanian shouted as he backhanded his friend's forehead.

Norway was brought from his daze and glanced up at his attacker, who was now smirking with his hands on his hips.

"Where the hell were ya?" he joked, then became a bit more serious and concerned. "You alright?"

"Yeah..." Norway responded quietly, glancing back at the amulet for a second and then up at his friend again. "Just thinking about what hellish things I'll have to do to pay you back."

Romania laughed and patted Norway's shoulder a few times. He noticed that the other Nordics flinched slightly when he did this, likely because the Norwegian never liked being touched. He laughed even more at their expressions when Norway didn't even tell him to stop.

Of course, Norway noticed when his friend's amusement was directed elsewhere, and he turned to the side and stared behind him at the four nations that stood awkwardly not too far from them. Upon seeing who it was, he safely pocketed the pendant (careful that they wouldn't see it) and took a sip of his coffee.

"Ooh, can I have some coffee?" Romania merrily asked. In response, Norway handed him the mug and began walking away while his friend sipped at the hot drink. "Thanks," he said with a steamy sigh. "So are we crashing at your place tonight?"

"Sure," the Norwegian responded as he headed past the other Nordics and headed for the stairs. Before he could get there, however, Denmark had reached out and grabbed his wrist.

"Where ya goin', Norge?" he asked, surprised. "And what were you lookin' at a bit ago? Who's this guy, anyw-" The Dane's question was cut short when he received a blow to the head. "OW! Seriously, ow! I just wanna know."

Romania covered his mouth and snickered for a moment. Then he proceeded by telling them the information that wasn't exactly supposed to be told. "We're going to the mountains with England. We'll be gone for a few weeks. That was a pendant. It has much personal and historical value for Norway. I am Romania."

Norway glared at his friend for telling them so much that easily. "Yes..." he began, looking back at the other Nordics. "We're just going on a hike in the mountains."

"C-can I come?!" Denmark and Finland shouted simultaniously.

"No."

"Plea-"

"No," Norway answered again with finality. "I'll be back in a few weeks, likely. At least let me have that much time away from you." He stared at Denmark with annoyance plain on his expressionless face.

"Sorry, guys~!" Romania waved and grinned. "Kay, Luke. Hurry and get your damn stuff so we can leave!"

Norway tugged his arm out of the Dane's grip and continued on up the stairs, while Romania headed to the kitchen sink to wash the coffee mug before departing.

While they were all still immensely curious, Sweden managed to hush the others before they blurted any more questions by explaining that it wasn't their business, and they went back into the living room and waited for Norway to come back down. Once he did, though, he simply stopped at the entrance to the room and told them he'd be back in a while and then headed toward the basement. They'd expected he and his friend to come back and leave out the front door, but they the two never came back that way.

Denmark smirked mischieviously, an idea hatching in his tiny brain. The others looked at him for a moment before catching his drift. Finland then smirked as well, and Sweden nodded his head. Iceland still didn't understand though and waited for explanation. The Dane then went on to explain what his plan was.

"So...who's ready to find out Norge's secrets?"

* * *

**Hm. Flashback scene. Fun. If that part didn't make much sense, it's probably because it'll be explained further on. If I give out too much right now, there wouldn't be much of a story. haha Adea and Allan aren't Hetalia characters. I just made them up for this fanfic.**

**And I'm so sorry for my probably-horrible Sweden talk TT_TT And also, I greatly apologize for any errors. My new laptop's WordPad program apparently doesn't have spellcheck or anything. Lame.**

**Pendant looks similar to this:****_ www. earthdreamer BEMD12BL .jpg_**

**Welp, hope you enjoyed it~! Not sure when I'll get the next chapter up...hopefully it won't be too long. Thanks for reading! ;w; Feel free to review~! ^_^**


	3. Dreams

**Thank you guys for the lovely reviews! I'm really surprised that I've already gotten more followers here too than with my first fanfic on here. Well, this is technically my second...but you know. haha Keep sending reviews? They really motivate me~! **  
**Apologies if OOC; Enjoy~!**

**Lukas/Stoicman****= Norway; ****Arthur/Mint-Bunny****= England; ****Vladimir/Vampboy17****= Romania**

**-Italicized sections are flashbacks.**

* * *

Norway, Romania, and England gathered in the run-down Nordic home. It was the middle of winter, and the cold air seeped through the cracks in the half-rotted wood. The trio had just finished checking over their supplies once again, and they finally found it time to rest for tomorrow's journey into the mountains.

Romania yawned, bored. He lay on a tattered mattress, alongside England, with his arms folded under his head. Norway was laying on his bed up against the wall, examining the pendant in his hand. Kicking his legs in the air like a child, Romania started chuckling to himself, earning stares from his friends.

"What in the bloody hell are you laughing about?" a tired Englishman whispered from beside him. He and Norway looked over at him, seemingly unfazed by the Romanian's odd behavior.

Romania glanced over at them, smirking playfully. "It's funny," he said and looked back up at the ceiling, still kicking his legs, "the way your family reacted to me. It was quite comical." He seized his kicking and pulled an arm out from under his head, turning his body on its side to face the others and looking at Norway in particular. "Do ya think my family would be shocked too? I was just picturing their faces if they found out I did this with you guys."

"Mm," Norway grunted quizzically and paused before continuing. "Did they really react much?" he said in his usual, monotonous voice.

"Heh. Well, maybe not to me, but their faces were hilarious when I was hitting you." He laughed again, but it came to a stop when his gaze fell to the floor as he began pouting and biting his cheek. "I told Bulgaria this morning that I'd be gone a few weeks to go dance with leprechauns. He just waved it off without reacting or anything." He pouted but then suddenly smiled again as if he'd just thought of something brilliant (brilliant in _his_ mind, that is).

"What is it now?" England asked, growing irritable. He just wanted to go to sleep.

"I bet that witch Hungary would react. Wanna know why?" Sparks danced in his eyes, and the others stared back expectantly.

"Why?" Norway asked nonchalantly.

"Cos she's always _hungry_ for info on me!" His smile beamed as he waited for laughter that didn't come. Instead, Norway let out a heavily irritated sigh and turned back to the pendant in his hand, and England slammed his head back into his pillow, mentally face-palming. Romania's smile wavered. "Get it? Hungry? Like, so she can black-mail me or somethin'?"

"Time for bed," the Englishman said and faced away from Romania, tucking the thick blanket around himself. Norway then reached over an blew out a candle that had been lighting the room before laying down himself, facing the wall. With a "hmph," Romania flipped onto his back once more and tugged the blankets up to his shoulders and drifted off into sleep.

The room was still rather bright due to the white snow showing through the window. Norway sat in silence as his friends slept away, the only sound being their snoring and the faint wind blowing outside.

He couldn't sleep right away. Rubbing his thumb across the sapphire stone of the amulet, he stared at it blankly, his mind void of everything for a few moments. Eventually, exhaustion overcame him and brought him back to his senses.

Sighing lightly, he cast the amulet one last look of mixed sadness and hope before placing it on the pillow beside him, letting his dreams take over from there.

* * *

"So?" Denmark asked excitingly after explaining his plan in detail.

Iceland stared at him as if he were the dumbest person on Earth, though he hadn't really been expecting much of the Dane's plan in the first place. Finland also stared at him quite skeptically at first, though he had become excited after thinking it over for a good ten seconds.

"Well? Sounds good, yeah?" Denmark smiled enthusiastically.

"Yes, Matthias. Sounds _fantastic_, Iceland sarcastically replied with a roll of his eyes.

"Awesome!" the Dane shouted, paying no mind to the sarcasm that laced the Icelander's voice. "Think of it," he said dreamily. "We might finally find something to hold against Norge." He laughed. "Then he'll get a taste of his own medicine!"

At this, something sparked in Iceland's eyes. Though the plan was stupid, not to mention that he'd probably hate it, the thought of picking on Norway settled in his mind. He'd never have to sit back and take the teasing anymore. A small smile played on his lips.

"Haha! See?! It'll be totally worth it!"

Finland and Denmark were practically dancing with excitement. The four of them would make their way to Norway's place later that night...and then they'd lay low in wait until Norway and his "secret friends" left his house...and simply put, they'd follow them; who said they couldn't go on their own hiking trip in the mountains?

"I s'ppose we sh'ld pack warm cl'thes 'n' f'd?" Sweden suggested from his seat on the couch. He would go along with what they were doing either way, so there was no point in opposing. A hike in the mountains sounded quite nice, actually. It would be a good change.

"Mkay," Finland said and smiled at the Swedish man before bouncing out of the room and running upstairs to start packing. The others went to do the same in a more normal-paced manner. Soon enough, they were on their way to Norway's house.

* * *

_She was beautiful. Lukas dreamt of holding her hand and running through the rich green grass. They raced toward the small cabin hidden on the fjord hillside that overlooked the beautiful blue water below. The air was fresh and light, and her blond locks blew in the wind as they ran to their spot on the hillside._

_Casually taking a seat in the soft grass, Lukas let go of the woman's hand and slid the back of his fingers along the smooth skin of her cheeks, staring lovingly into those sapphire blue orbs as she smiled up at him from where she lay on the ground._

_"Adea," he voiced her name._

_Another warm smile, and she pulled the collar of his shirt toward her, bringing his face closer to hers. She placed a sweet kiss on his lips before he pulled back slightely to stare back into her eyes while gently brushing her hair aside as the wind blew strands into her face. The corners of his mouth curved up into another loving smile as he pressed their lips together again and again, chuckling to himself about how cute it was when the wind brushed her hair into her face._

_The day was calm and warm and the night, passionate and hot. When Lukas awoke late the next morning, he knew what he would find; a beautiful, relaxed face next to his, and his arms would be wrapped safely around her slender body. He would stare at the long eyelashes that brushed against the pillow and would watch as her chest rose and fell with each breath. The tiniest of smiles would be left on her face as she dreamed, and he couldn't help but wonder what dream could make her so happy._

_Lukas flashed a tired smile at the sleeping woman and loosened his embrace to reach up an slide his fingers along her cheek..._

* * *

Norway awoke when his fingers brushed something cold. Eyes jolting open, he saw the amulet that lying on the pillow beside his face, the sapphire blue stone staring back at him. The warmth that had been engulfing his body faded when he came to the realization that it was just a dream. He would no longer wake to see his sleeping beauty.

A surge of sadness flashed through him, and he frowned. A cold emptiness took over, and he rolled himself over in bed to glance at the empty mattress on the floor. Sighing, he grabbed the pendant and stood, pulling the chain over his head and stashing the amulet under his shirt. He then followed the strong scent of bacon and coffee that would lead him to his friends.

"Hey, Luke," Romania greeted him from his position at the stove. "Have a nice dream? We were gonna wake ya to see what you wanted for breakfast, but you were smiling in your sleep, so we decided just to let you be." He grinned at his Norwegian friend and then turned back to the stove.

"Ah. Yes..." Norway's answer trailed off, and he took a seat at the table after pouring himself some freshly-brewed coffee. England was sitting across from him with a cup of tea placed nearby while he read the morning paper.

"I'm making some waffles, if you would like," the Englishman informed from behind the newspaper. When he received no answer, he brought the paper down from his face to glance across at his friend. Norway, despite his blank expression, looked slightly frightened. England tsked. "Don't worry. They're the frozen kind. I just stuck them in the toaster." He folded his paper and placed it aside as he took a sip of warm tea. "They should be done any minute now."

As if on cue, the waffles shot up from the toaster with a loud _'ding',_ making Romania jump and drop a piece of fried bacon as he was transferring it from the pan to a plate. "Damn it," he cussed and went to pick up the ruined meat to throw it in the pet's food bowl. Norway befriended many wild animals in his country, and he had grown rather fond of a small fox that he'd found and raised when its mother had been hunted. It lived with him ever since.

Quietly (well, aside from Romania's random bickering), the three ate their breakfast, completely unaware of the four nations that were peaking through a gap in a wall of the rundown house. It was on the other side of the room, so it would be quite difficult to notice them through the small crack, though the four Nordics could see everything in the kitchen/dining room area. But they couldn't hear anything over the howling wind outside.

"What're they sayin'?" Denmark whispered to no one in particular.

"Can't r'ly hear," Sweden responded. Iceland was too focused on observing his brother to hear the question, and Finland was practically squeeing over the little fox that suddenly appeared in the kitchen to eat its piece of bacon.

After about five minutes of sitting in the freezing snow, the loud wind finally died down, leaving a peaceful silence about nature. The four Nordics could finally listen in on the magic trio.

"Ylvis. Here," they heard Norway say as he picked up the leftover bacon from his plate and held it in the air. The little red fox leaped up onto his shoulders and leaned forward to take the meat out of his hand, wrapping its body around his neck and laying down to chew the food. It then licked its master's jaw as a thank you.

"It's so cuuuutttteeee~!" Finland squealed in as quietly as he could. "Why didn't Norge tell us he had a fox? I wanna hold it!"

"It's shy," Iceland told him, receiving looks from the other three. "What?"

Denmark huffed, "How come you knew about it?" he asked accusingly.

"Because I was visiting when he found it," the young Icelandic boy said with a bit of venom. "We didn't tell you guys because he didn't want _you_ anywhere near it, and he didn't want Fin to overwhelm it." He paused and glanced at Sweden. "And you would probably tell Fin and Sealand."

Before any of the three could say anything back (not that Sweden even would), they were startled when they heard the front door close. Peering inside, the lights were now out, and the dishes were cleaned. The trio was nowhere to be seen. Cautiously, Finland crept along the side of the house and peered around at the front door. The others followed quietly.

What they saw were the retreating backs of Norway, England, and Romania, as well as the fox on their fellow Nordic's shoulders. They were bundled pretty warmly, but the only thing they carried seemed to be the messenger bag draped diagonally across Romania's chest and back. They didn't seem very fit for a winter's hike in the mountains, yet there they were, heading off into the forest.

The four Nordics shared a questioning look when their "targets" entered the treeline, and finally, they followed after them.

* * *

**There wasn't originally a fox in this story. It just kinda happened. But I named him Ylvis. haha Oh my...**

**And yeah, another flashback. This one took place (obviously) before the last flashback. Most of the flashbacks from here on will take place when Norway was just Lukas (though not all of them will).**

**This is kinda what I had in mind for what the cabin/fjord in the flashback looks like:**** www. fjordtravel .no /images /hurtigurten /Geirangerfjord %20001 .jpg**  
**Just remove the spaces in the link & you should see the picture.**

**This chapter seems a bit short. Sorry about that. Next chapter will probably get to be a bit more interesting, since they'll finally be off on their "hiking" trip. **

**Thanks for reading~! Please review ^_^**


	4. Unexpected

**I keep reading fanfictions, which distract me from working on my own. And if my attention leaves what I'm doing for even a second, my mind wonders to unknown places constantly. It's been over a week since I updated this. I apologize...I seriously need to get my shit together.**

**To make up for that, here is an extra long chapter~! (Actually, it being this long was kind of an accident...) I was at a loss for a title this chapter.**

**Apologies if OOC; Enjoy~!**

**Lukas/Stoicman****= Norway; ****Arthur/Mint-Bunny****= England; ****Vladimir/Vampboy17****= Romania**

**-Italicized sections are flashbacks.**

* * *

"It's fucking cold," complained Denmark as the four Nordics trailed behind the magic trio, far enough away that they may not be seen. As an added precaution, the lot decided to camoflauge themselves as well. Denmark and Sweden wore different shades of dark brown and black to blend with the trees, Finland wore all white to blend with the snow, and Iceland wore his usual mix of brown and white (though he wore a winter coat instead of his usual jacket).

"You don't have to tell us," Iceland snapped back in a harsh whisper. "It's the middle of winter...in fucking _Norway!_ Who hikes the mountains in this weather, anyway? Seriously, what's wrong with him?" he asked no one in particular while he watched his brother trudge through the deep snow on the hill up ahead.

"One does not simply understand a Norwegian," Denmark joked and smirked at the youngest Nordic, receiving a glare that clearly showed irritation to the Dane's movie reference. "Anyway, let's go now. They're getting kinda far ahead..." He stopped smiling and looked forward curiously; the trio was nearly out of view now as they neared the top of the hill.

The four Nordics stood from their crouching position amongst the trees and quietly took off after their 'targets,' glad that the soft snow allowed them to move without a sound, though it was fairly deep and difficult to walk in. Eventually, they reached the top of the hill and peeked around the trees, looking for the three nations they'd been following. What they saw was a large field of white; to the left was an extremely steep hill (too steep to walk up), and to the right was the edge of a cliff. The field wasn't very big. In fact, they could see the trio standing just ahead of them, looking down a steep, snowy hill.

"I can't believe it just fell apart like that," they heard the Englishman speak in astonishment. "How on earth are we getting across now," he pouted.

"Mm," Norway hummed quietly. "I felt an avalanche last month...it must have taken out the bridge. We'll just have to find another way across." Their destination, of course, was the other side of this large drench, which no longer had the flimsy wooden bridge connecting the two sides.

England sighed, but Romania just laughed in response. "Alright," he said and glanced quickly at Norway with a spark of mischief in his eye, "we'll head back to the forest and look if there's a way we can climb that." He pointed his thumb toward the steep hill to their left.

England sighed again. "Fine, but my feet hurt enough already. I'm not used to all this walking." He then walked a bit to the side and placed himself on a cold rock after brushing the snow off its surface. "Go, be quick. I need a break."

With that, Romania smirked and turned toward Norway. "You heard him! Let's go~!" And so they headed off, toward the trees again, though this time a bit closer to the steep hill...but still a bit too close for the comfort of the hiding Nordics.

"T-they're coming over here!" Finland yelled in a whisper. "W-what do we do?!"

"Hide," Sweden stated, his sudden deep voice breaking the silence. The four of them then moved over to a large boulder just outside of the tree line, where they sat in wait, watching as Norway and his friend re-entered the treeline not too far from them. Sitting still, they tried their best not to breathe too loudly or make any sudden movements. They watched and listened.

A snicker sounded from the young Romanian man. Norway seemed to glance over his shoulder at the Englishman, making sure he wasn't paying attention. He then turned and pulled his friend behind a nearby tree as he himself stood behind a much larger one and carefully (and quietly) peeled a large slab of bark off of it. After inspecting it to make sure it was strong enough, the Norwegian nodded toward his friend, who grinned wildly, revealing his pointed canines.

Norway paused and glanced around cautiously, as if he could feel the presence of something watching them. Romania noticed this and snapped his fingers in front of his face, effectively attracting the Norwegian's attention. He then motioned toward England, and they began walking toward him.

"What are they doing?" Iceland whispered as he studied his brother and friend, clueless about their actions.

"Dunno," Denmark said calmy, adjusting his position to now look over toward the Englishman, who stood up when he noticed his friends approaching. "Let's just watch..."

What they saw next was a bit unexpected.

"Lukas, what are you-" England was cut off as Romania kicked his feet out from under him, and Norway shoved the large bark slab underneath him before telling him to have a nice trip and pushing him forward with his foot. England screamed and gripped the edges of the bark as he descended down into the deep drench.

Romania immediately burst into laughter as his friend screamed, and from behind, the shocked Nordics could see Norway's shoulders moving as if he were laughing to himself.

"We're horrible friends," the Romanian said through his fit of laughter as he and Norway bro-fisted. After settling down a bit, he then reached into his messanger bag and fished for something. "Alright," he said as he revealed a snowboard that was far too large to fit into the bag and handed it to Norway. "We should probably head down before he thinks we ditched him." He then pulled out another for himself, and they began latching their feet into them.

"W-whoa!" Finland and Denmark squealed in unison. Sweden and Iceland had widened eyes. They'd just witnessed magic; something Norway rarely showed off to them, and it suddenly made sense as to why the trio had only brought a single bag on their mountain hike.

"See ya at the bottom!" Romania shouted and began his descent down the hill. Norway didn't follow immediately after his friend. Instead, he stood quietly for a moment, perfectly still. Slowly, he glanced back toward the large boulder across the small field. That feeling hadn't gone away; no, it felt even stronger now. He knew someone had to be watching them...but he saw nothing when he glanced back at the tree line, so he simply shrugged it off and turned back toward the drench. He could now see his friends at the bottom, beginning up the other side. And so, he headed off.

* * *

_Lukas soared through the cold winter air. With a graceful twist of his hips and tilt of his body, the young Norwegian man felt the world slow down for a moment, focusing on his movements and hearing nothing but his own calming breath. That amazing feeling lasted just seconds before the world sped up once again as his ski landed smoothly in the snow further down the mountain._

_When he reached the bottom, he used a stick to push him along the more-flattened land and spent a number of hours making his way to town. When he had finally arrived, Lukas removed his ski and strapped it to the bag on his back. He headed for the town centre, where he would enter into a small shop to pick up something he had special ordered a few weeks prior, as well as to stock up on food._

_Entering the shop, Lukas was greeted kindly by a clean-cut middle-aged man behind a counter of dark chestnet wood and glass. The store was small but very open to move around. Everything was sorted into sections; food at the back wall, supplies on the wall at the right, and small weapons and jewelry in the glass case of the counter to the left. Tucked in the corner at the back of the room, beside the shelves of food, was a door marked for employees only._

_"Ah, Bondevik~!" the man behind the counter smiled upon site of the young Norwegian entering his shop. "You're late, my boy. Come, I'm closing in a moment." He gestured for Lukas to sit at the stool at the end of the counter and then disappeared behind the door at the back. A moment later, he returned with a small cardboard box marked "Fragile" in Old Norse and carefully placed it on the counter in front of them. "Arrived late this morning. I've been dying to see this beauty. Opening it now?"_

_"Mm," the young blond hummed and smiled kindly at the package, holding his slender fingers out for the store owner to hand him a small dagger from below the counter. Without looking away from the box, he slid the blade across the tape and placed it down again once he'd gotten it to the point in which he could easily take the object from the cardboard package._

_Inside was a beautifully polished box, square in shape and black in color. Lukas slid his fingers across the smooth lid and gulped. He couldn't wait to look inside, and from what he could tell, neither could the man standing beside him, who edged him on and told him to open it._

_And he did just that. Lifting the lid of the box, both men froze, stunned by the sight before them. Inside lay a lovely celtic cross amulet with a deep blue sapphire stone staring up at them. The elder man let out a low whistle after finally regaining his awareness._

_"Oh, lad. She's going to love this." He straightened himself as Lukas closed the lid to the box once again. "Come, let's pick out a chain now." With that said, the two moved over to the glass part of the counter, where the young Norwegian peered in and scanned the different necklace chains before smiling and pointing to a polished silver chain. "Ah, perfect choice," declared the middle-aged man as he picked the jewlery from the case and brought it to the counter, where they fit it onto the amulet perfectly._

_Stuffing the case securely into his bag, Lukas then went over and gathered some food products to take home and payed at the counter, stuffing them into the bag as well. "How much do I owe you?" he asked, referring to the silver chain, since the amulet itself had been purchased elsewhere._

_"Ye don't owe me anything, boy. Consider it an early engagement gift." He smiled kindly and received an equally kind smile and a 'thank you' in return. "Bondevik," the man said as Lukas was stepping out of the shop, holding the door open and turning at the sound of his name. "Let me know how it goes." He smiled._

_Lukas smiled sincerely. "I will. Thank you." And he slipped out the door into the dark night to begin his journey back to his home in the mountains._

* * *

Norway was sure to show off for his friends, who were slowly making their way up the other side of the deep drench. Speeding down the hill on his snowboard, he swirved from side to side quickly and made it his job to hit every 'jump' in the hillside so that he could twist tricks in the air and land swiftly, to the amazement of his friends (and the spying Nordics peering from the top of the hill, who didn't even know he had a sporty side).

One more jump, and he caught good air, doing a perfect backflip midair before landing and starting up the other side, skidding to a stop in front of his friends...which of course, blasted a bunch of snow right in their faces.

"BLOODY HELL, LUKAS!" England shouted as he wiped the cold fluff off his face and clothes. "That really wasn't necessary," he huffed. "And neither were those fancy tricks. I mean, they were hunky-dory and all but incredibly unnecessary," he huffed. "It's bad enough that you pushed me off a fucking mountain," he growled in a mumble.

Romania laughed cheerfully. "Man, that was awesome!" he cheered and hit Norway playfully on the shoulder without even bothering to wipe the melting snow from his face.

* * *

"M-man. I hope they're not g-gone by now," Denmark said as he shivered and puffed for air after finally making it to the top of the opposite side of the drench. It was a difficult feat, and they were lucky they only had to follow the trail previously made by the magic trio. However, by the time the Nordics made it to the top, the trail barely showed since a slight blizzard came rushing in.

"Th're gone," Sweden stated as he scanned the land in front of him, noticing the quickly-fading footprints. "W' should h'rry." He let out a breath of warm white air and turned to help the exhausted Finnish man to his feet.

"M-maybe we should go back," Finland suggested when he finally got to his feet, whole body shivering tramendously.

"What? No way!" Denmark cheerfully shouted, though his teeth chattered from the cold. "We c-came to find out Norge's s-secrets, and d-damn it, that's what we're gonna do!" He sighed and looked back at the other side of the large drench. "B'sides...there's no way we'd make it back up that before the storm, y'know?"

Iceland stood up last and began following what was left of the trail his brother had left behind. The other Nordics turned and looked at him curiously and then decided to follow after him as well. They didn't really have much of a choice; the footprints were fading fast, and they would never make it back the other way.

"I'm sure they have some kind of shelter they're going to," Iceland stated calmly, as if unaffected by the weather. "We're too far behind now, so we should pick up the pace." He glared back at the three nations, two of which were taking tiny, numbing steps and shivering uncontrollably.

Sweden wrapped his arms around Finland and held him close to make him warmer, since he seemed to be coldest. This, however, only made the Swede slow down to his pace. In the end, he ended up carrying the Finnish man while Denmark picked up the pace to keep up with the others as they entered the tree line.

After what felt like hours, the four Nordics could see the end of the forest and numbly stumbled up a small hill at the tree line. When they reached the top, their eyes glowed with hope. In a field much larger and secluded than that last (meaning it wasn't surrounded by cliffs) was a log cabin with windows lit and warm smoke flowing from the chimney. Scanning the field, they could see a large pond further out in the field, just after a very small hill beside the cabin. Out on the ice was a Romanian and none other than Norway, sitting at a circle they'd previously cut into the ice. They were currently holding the ends of a net they'd lowered into the icy water.

"Hiking, my ass," Denmark pouted. "Looks more like camping to me."

"They said they'd be here for a few weeks, Denmark." Finland smiled at his friend, still behind held close by the large Swedish man. The four of them crouched there on the small hill at the treeline, observing Norway from a distance.

"We can't stay out here forever," Iceland said coldly, and Denmark grunted in defiance, though he knew it was true.

"I know," he sighed, releasing a deep breath of white. Then, he jumped when Finland suddenly gasped quite loudly.

"Guys," Finland said in wonder. "What the heck happened to Norway's fox?"

The Nordics looked at each other in confusion, just now realising that they hadn't seen the fox since they first started following them. But they soon shrugged it off when they noticed Norway and Romania quickly returning to the cabin with a large net full of fish.

* * *

Romania held the heavy net of fish as Norway used his magic to unseal the underground cooler just outside the cabin. When the lit to the cooler flipped open, they began to dump the live fish into it. It had metal insides and was filled with water, which was kept unfrozen because of the magic seal.

"Hey, Luke, what's this?" Romania asked and gestured to a strange slick-looking glob attached to the now-empty net.

Norway reached over and gripped the slippery white creature, holding it in the air in front of them. "A freshwater squid...?" he questioned in his emotionless voice. "Hm. That's certainly new...way up in the mountains, too...wonder if it tastes any good."

As if it understood his last sentence, the squid suddenly lunged at Norway, wrapping its many limbs around his upper arm and digging its beak into his flesh. After many attempts of pulling the creature off, and Norway trying to hide his pain, Romania ran to the door and frantically called England, who came running out immediately.

"A squid?!" the Englishman yelled and ran to Norway, gripping the creatures powerful tentacles and trying (in vain) to pull it off of his friend. His eyes widened when the Norwegian flinched slightly and let out a small gasp that he'd been holding back. It was then that England and Romania saw a large gush of blood flowing down his arm and began to freak out.

"U-u-um," Romania stuttered in a panic, "Why don't we, like, just kill it and then take it off?"

Again, as if it understood, the squid dug its beak deeper into Norway's arm and tightened its grip to the point in which the Norwegian could no longer hold back his pain, and more blood flowed from where the creature stuck to his arm. His circulation was beginning to get cut off...

"K-kill it..." Norway weakly choked out, his arm now feeling as if it would fall off. Just as Romania came out from the cabin with a knife, the squid suddenly released its grip and jumped into the cooler, disappearing into the water. Panting, the bleeding Norwegian rubbed his pained arm and glared at the water, then using his magic to close and seal the cooler once again. "We've having squid for breakfast..." he declared and let out a deep and shaky sigh before disappearing into the cabin with England.

Romania pouted and closed the pocket knife and shoved it into his pants pocket. Picking up the empty net, he turned toward the cabin but stopped when something caught his attention from the corner of his eye. He turned his head, and his eyes widened in shock when he saw four Nordics, who froze in place and stared back (wide-eyed as well) when they'd realized they'd been spotted.

"Shit," was all Denmark could say before Romania ran quickly into the cabin, shouting Norway's name.

* * *

**Denmark's quote ****_"One does not simply understand a Norwegian"_**** is a reference to Lord of the Rings. I found it fitting, since Middle-Earth comes from Norse mythology & actually includes Norway's fjords.**

**Guuuuyyyyssss, I forgot about Ylvis~! No, seriously. The fox wasn't in my original idea for this story, so I kinda forgot about him and didn't realize until near the end of this chapter... ^^; Sorry, Ylvis. Guess he won't be showing up until the end now. Ah well.**

**But wow. Those Nordics got caught so quickly. haha I blame Denmark. (Always blame Denmark, even if it's not his fault.)**

**Thanks for reading~! c: Leave a review if you wish. I enjoy reading them. ^_^**


	5. Friends

**I've started working on another fanfic at the same time as this because working on this all the time can be tiring, since I really have to pay attention to what I do 'cos it has a more complex storyline. :-/ So, um...yeah, I'll be splitting my time between this and the other fanfic. The other one has a simpler plot though & isn't as long for each chapter...so it probably won't get in the way of ****_Unstoic_**** updates too much. It might actually speed up my update process since I'm able to switch between the two stories and refresh myself when I get stuck. Just thought I'd tell ya~**

**Apologies if OOC; Enjoy~!**

**Lukas/Stoicman****= Norway; ****Arthur/Mint-Bunny****= England; ****Vladimir/Vampboy17****= Romania**

* * *

"Do you want to explain yourselves?" Norway asked in a very stern tone of voice, standing with his arms crossed in front of his chest.

The four Nordics stood in silence in the small cabin. Iceland was looking off to the side like a defiant child, Finland was biting chewing on his lower lip as if afraid to tell, Sweden was staring directly at Norway, and Denmark was rubbing the back of his head (where Nor recently punched him) and smiling awkwardly. England sat on a chair by the fireplace, sipping tea maturely while Romania (on the couch) drank hot chocolate and watched the accused Nordics with sense of joy about him.

After a few awkward minutes of his brother's glaring, Iceland finally decided to speak up. "The Dane wanted to learn your secrets," he said and uncomfortably glanced over at Denmark, who gave him a look of shocked betrayal. "Okay, so we all did. Does it matter? Point is, we followed you here. What now?"

Norway let out a small sigh of irritation. "Go home."

"Seriously?! But it's dark out!" Denmark yelled. "We'd get lost anyways."

"Then you can leave in the morning."

"Fine. Let's make a deal."

"No deals. You're leaving."

"How 'bout you just let Icey stay then?"

"No," Norway said with finality.

"Wha? Seriously?! But it's Ice! Nor, come on," Denmark pleaded.

It was then that Iceland stepped in, shouting that he wasn't some pawn to make deals with and that he didn't want to be stuck in the snow with Norway for three weeks. His rant, however, was cut short by the snickers of Romania, who was watching the scene with much amusement in his eyes.

Norway sighed again. "What is it, Vladimir?"

"Well," the Romanian began, smirking and owering his mug. "Your arguing is pointless 'cos there's a big blizzard coming tonight." He smiled again when he saw the Norwegian curse to himself. "They couldn't go back if they tried."

"Fine," stated the emotionless Norway, though the word seemed to raise the hopes of his fellow Nordics, who now looked at him expectantly. He looked back to them and glared harshly. "But you'll stay inside. Understand?" The four of them nodded in agreement, and Fin and Den quietly cheered when the Norwegian turned away and walked off to get his coffee.

* * *

"Uno!" Finland shouted as he tossed a +4 color card onto the pile on the coffee table in front of the fire place. "And yellow, by the way."

"Man," Denmark sighed and moved to pick up four cards from the upsidedown deck. "Quit making me pick up, Fin." His hand was now full of different colored cards, spread out in a fan.

"I'm out!" Fin declared once it got back to his turn again, and the other four (Den, Ice, Iggy, and Roma) got frustrated by their loss and decided to just quit playing. They'd played over ten rounds already, and Finland had won every single game, with the exception of the one time he'd convinced Sweden to join in.

Standing and stretching, the group of nations decided to get ready for bed. They were all very tired from their day-long hike in the freezing weather. After much discussion, the magic trio agreed that the four Nordics could have the large bed upstairs. The upstairs was really just a little balcony that took up only the back half of the cabin and overlooked the front half; the living room and entry way. The only way to get up to the "balcony" was to climb the ladder steps built into the side of the wall. Upstairs was only large enough to hold the bed, as well as a cussioned bench at the foot of the bed. Denmark, Sweden, and Finland would squeeze into the bed, made to fit up to three people (usually the magic trio), and Iceland would sleep on the bench at the bottom, up against the railing that overlooked the living room and entry.

The magic trio had given up the comfort of their bed for the couch and arm chair by the fireplace. England, of course, claimed the chair...Norway and Romania had yet to decide who would take the couch and who would sleep on the floor in front of the fire.

It was now around midnight. The four Nordic guests had already gone up to bed an hour or so earlier and hadn't been heard from since. Norway sat on the couch and stared into the fire. He'd been doing this for hours now and hadn't said much since his family arrived. He was lost in thought, wonder, and worry.

Romania and England had been watching him for a while. They knew what he was thinking about but couldn't yet bring themselves to talk to him. It was too early in the week, and they didn't want to talk about such a serious topic just then. It would only further his anxiety.

England stood with his empty tea cup and quietly walked to the kitchen area to place it in the sink of dirty dishes to be washed in the morning. When he came back toward the small living room, he stood a moment and looked from Norway to Romania and sighed. Heading toward his chair in the corner, he tapped the Norwegian's shoulder to snap him from his daze, which succeeded, and told him they should go to sleep soon. Overhearing his friend, the Romanian yawned and stretched his arms and back and then crawled to the floor with a pillow and blanket, curling up in front of the fire place and effectively falling asleep.

Norway and England smiled slightly at the sight. Romania wasn't one to say when he wanted something, but once he'd be given permission, he'd go right at it. It was amazing how fast he could fall asleep. However, England's smile disappeared when he noticed the mental exhaustion in Norway's eyes, and he took a seat next to him on the couch.

"Alright. What's up?" he asked in a quiet voice so as to not wake the others.

Norway glanced at his friend and took a calming deep breath. "I was just wondering...if maybe things will be different this year."

A sympathetic smirk came to England's lips, and he nodded his head in agreement. "Understandable," he said, glancing at Norway's clasped hands, which held the pendant he loved so dearly. "Things have been going very differently this time, haven't they?" The Englishman gave a short chuckle and looked over at their sleeping friend.

"That's also why-" Norway interrupted the calming atmosphere with the slight sense of urgency in his voice. England looked back at his and furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. The Norwegian took a deep breath to calm himself and tried again. "That's why...if nothing happens this time..." he paused, finding it difficult to even think about the subject.

England only smiled at this. "Go to sleep," he ordered kindly and patted his friend's knee before heading over to his chair. "We can discuss this matter at another time."

Norway sighed and scraped a hand through his hair. He then lifted the blanket from the couch and layed down, pulling the covers back over him. He placed the pendant back over his neck and tucked it under his shirt, then removed the cross pin from his hair and placed it on the coffee table beside the couch.

England adjusted himself until he was comfortable in his chair and wrapped himself in a warm blanket. "Night," he smiled.

"Night..." Norway said and closed his eyes.

* * *

Norway thought back to all the times his friends had helped him. Even though each year turned out the same, they always agreed to come with him on his journey. They were always there for him; England and Romania. They always gave so much for him and expected nothing in return. In short, they were his best friends.

But he couldn't help feeling that he was a terrible friend to them.

Every year, they would take weeks off of work _-neglecting their duties as nations-_ and sometimes even spend their own money...just to help him with some stupid desire to see someone who was long gone.

He knew it was stupid of him. He knew the chances were next to nothing. Why was it that he just couldn't stop trying? Why was it that he had to bring his friends into this? He knew this dream of his was just that; _a dream._ To bring someone from the dead, even for a moment, even with magic; _it was impossible._ He knew it was, but he still refused to accept it.

He'd once hated his journey into the mountains; his quest for lost desires. But that was before he had friends to accompany him. Now, he honestly _enjoyed_ this annual hike...even if it would only hurt him in the end.

But this year was different. After searching for practically his whole nation life, Norway finally was reunited with the amulet he held so dear; the one object from his human life that mirrored _her_ beauty, brought them together, and killed them both. It was this pendant, this cursed sapphire stone, that turned him into a nation. It had caused that tragedy so very long ago. And now it was back, by some strange twist of fate, after so many years...it had finally resurfaced on the black market and was back; the precious treasure that held her soul; _Adea's soul._

Yes, things would be different this time. Whether he truly does get to see her again or not...things will change. They had to...because he just couldn't keep doing this to himself. This amulet is his last string of hope. If it doesn't work, then...nothing will. And he'd just have to accept that. He'd have to finally move on with his life and forget about that stupid dream of his...that stupid desire to see her one last time, to say apologize for everything, to say goodbye.

_Maybe then, he'd finally be able to smile again._

* * *

"Wake up." Romania poked the sleeping Norwegian on the cheek.

"Leave him be, Vlad," England said from the stove, where he was cooking fish that he'd cut up that morning. The Nordics were helping him cook (honestly just to make sure he didn't do anything horrid with their food) and smiling at the scene in the living room. In all the years they'd known him, Norway was always the first one awake. In truth, it was rare to even see him sleep. They laughed as the Romanian fellow continued to annoy the sleeping Nordic, and they were honestly bracing themselves for when Norway would snap.

Romania was about to poke Norway again when the sleeping nation glared at him through one eye and told him, "Touch me while I sleep, and I'll kill you." He then rolled over to face the back of the couch so that his friend could no longer poke his face.

"Ah~" the Romanian smirked. "So you wanna be awake when I touch you~?" he said in a very seducive voice and walked his fingers up Norway's back, causing a tingling sensation that made the latter stiffen. The last time he'd done this, he suddenly pulled Nor's hair curl; hard, at that.

Norway quickly turned and grabbed his friend by the wrist, glowering at him.

"Oh? So you wanna touch me too~?" Romania joked but regretted it when his ear was being pulled, and Norway stood and dragged him to the door, literally tossing him out in the snow and locking him out. Norway then headed toward the others in hopes of getting his coffee.

"Good morning," England chimed and chuckled a bit when he saw Nor's messy bed head, bangs hanging in his face without the hair pin to hold them back.

"It certainly is morning..." Norway tsked and ignored the banging on the door. Pouring himself a mug of hot coffee, he and the other Nordics went to sit in the living room together. Taking a sip of his drink, he noticed that they were all staring at him in surprise, and sent them a questioning look; the best he could while remaining stoic.

"Well," Finland began, "it's just that we've never seen you so..."

"Unk'mpt," Sweden finished.

It's true. Norway was always neat and tidy, first one up in the morning, always wearing his hair pin. Right now, the familiar upsidedown cross was missing from his bangs, and his hair was a bit messy. And that's without mentioning the two hours he'd slept in. He looked tired, skin slightly paler than usual and light bags under his eyes.

"You alright?" the Finnish man asked because it was honestly worrying him a bit to see the other Nordic so...unlike himself.

The answer he got was simple. "Dealing with Vlad and the Dane at the same time can be stressful," Norway lied and took another sip of his coffee. In truth, he'd been up all night thinking and worrying. But of course he wouldn't tell his family that.

Before the others could respond, everyone jumped when the door was suddenly kicked open. A shivering Romanian came running in and slammed the door behind himself. "Lukaaaasss~" he complained. "You coulda given me a jacket or boots or _something!_" It's true. He'd been thrown out in the blizzard wearing nothing but a t-shirt and the gym shorts he'd slept in.

"I let you wear my hair pin," Norway stated. He could see the cross holding back his friend's bangs. Romania always felt the need to wear it whenever he was given the chance.

"What?" Denmark was a bit taken aback. "Nor, what the heck? I'm the one that gave you that thing, and you don't even let _me_ touch it! How come _he_ gets to wear it?!"

Norway stared at him blankly and was about to answer when England shouted that breakfast was ready. The lot of countries stood up and walked to the kitchen area, where they each grabbed a plate and fork and collected the pieces of burnt fish.

He didn't get much sleep. He was woken rather unpleasantly. He looked and felt like shit. The Nordics were constantly observing him, and his breakfast was now burnt. This was going to be a long few weeks.

* * *

**Part of me regrets making this story so damn complicated.**

**Thanks for reading~! c: Leave a review if you wish. I enjoy them. ^_^**


	6. Numb

**Sorry for taking a whole week to update this. I guess I just haven't been in the mood to work on this story lately. I've been getting writers block with how to move this forward. After this chapter, I'll try to get a little more serious and push closer to the end.**

**Apologies if OOC; Enjoy~!**

**Lukas/Stoicman****= Norway; ****Arthur/Mint-Bunny****= England; ****Vladimir/Vampboy17****= Romania**

* * *

Five days had passed since the group of countries arrived at the cabin in the mountains. Everything was relatively calm, and the only secret the Nordics had discovered was that Romania loved to annoy the hell out of his friends...and that, surprisingly, they were quite tolerant of him.

"We're going to scout out the area," Norway informed England that afternoon as he and Romania dressed themselves for the snow outside. "You staying to watch these idiots?" he asked, gesturing toward his family.

"Hey!" Denmark exclaimed, though Norway acted as if he hadn't heard.

England smiled, holding his cup of tea just below his face, and answered, "That's fine. I don't entirely trust them to stay here myself. Go on ahead." He looked at his Romanian friend and added, "And don't do anything stupid." He sipped his tea and shooed them toward the door with his free hand.

After the two had disappeared through the door, Denmark huffed and crossed his arms, pouting. "Seriously, you guys can't even trust us here alone? And why can't we go outside, anyway?"

Placing his empty teacup on the coffee table, England sat back in his chair and looked over at the group of Nordics, who were staring at him quite angrily yet curiously. "For one, I'm sure you'd go through our belongings if we weren't around to stop you."

"Well, yeah, but..."

"And two, it is not currently safe for non-magic users like yourselves to venture outdoors here." He glanced at the four again and noticed their 'we're-not-weak' attitudes. Sighing, he explained further. "These mountains in particular are home to various mythical beings...the likes of which people like you cannot see. The two of them just went out to scout the area for these creatures; make sure it's safe, you see?"

"Oh!" Finland perked up and smiled. "So do you guys come here on some kind of monster hunt every year?"

"Well, not exac-"

"Awesome!" Denmark shouted and jumped to his feet. "I wanna hunt monsters too~!"

"Calm down, you git! That's not why we're here."

The two Nordics stuck out their bottom lips in a pout and sat back against the couch, Denmark crossing his arms like a child who'd just been denied his favorite toy. "Then why?"

Without answering, England got to his feet and walked over into the kitchen area. There, he pulled an old treasure chest out from a cabinet and brought it back by the fireplace, placing it on the floor and opening it by releasing a magic seal.

The Nordics leaned forward simultaniously to peer inside the chest, curious as to what could be in it. Inside were what looked like stone letters written in Old Norse, along with very tattered and outdated clothing and some other belongings.

"What are these?" Finland asked, picking up an old shirt and examining it while Iceland was looking over the stone letters in wonder. Denmark dug through the chest, searching for something more interesting, and Sweden simply stared into the chest as the Dane shifted through it.

"These," England said and gestured to the chest, "are the belongings of Lukas Bondevik."

Hearing Norway's full human name, the four of them looked up and stared at the Englishman with much disbelief in their eyes.

"I've known Nor pretty much his whole life, and I have _never_ seen any of this," Denmark defended, though not entirely sure _what_ he felt so offensive about it.

"That's because you didn't meet him yet," the Brit said with a somewhat sadistic smile on his face. "All of this stuff...the clothes, the letters, the chest; everything- they were all the belongings of a human...one that lived before this land came under the name of Norway...Lukas Bondevik."

The room was filled with a quiet atmosphere of shock and disbelief, and most of all, confusion. The Nordics, Denmark included, did not know what to say and sat in silence for quite some time, still and staring at the objects; likely imagining Norway dressed in those clothes and writing those letters.

"So then..." Iceland finally spoke up in a whisper. "My brother...he..."

"Yes," England answered without needing to hear the whole question. "Norway was human."

* * *

_Stoicman:__ Sense anything?_

_Vampboy17:__ My spidey senses are tingling. how bout you?_

_Stoicman:__ I sense sarcasm, but that's about it._

_Vampboy17:__ Funny. whatev. your just jealous of my tingling._

_Stoicman:__ *You're. And I honestly don't care for your...tingling or whatever._

_Vampboy17:__ We'll see once i pull your curly won't we?_

_Stoicman:__ I swear to God, Vlad..._

_Vampboy17:__ Its not nice to swear to God. but i bet your nordic buddies would like to see your reaction._

_Stoicman:__ I will kill you._

_Vampboy17:__ You can try but youll already be immobilized cuz ill get you when ya least expect it. haha_

_Stoicman:__ Whatever, Vlad. Let's go back. There's nothing out here._

_Vampboy17:__ Accepting your fate huh? good. meet up by the big rock first?_

_Stoicman:__ Just meet back at the cabin. I really don't trust being alone with you right now. lol_

_Vampboy17:__ Ha! my text talk is totally rubbing off on you. accomplishment!_

_Stoicman:__ That's about all you can accomplish._

_Vampboy17:__ Shuddup. whatevs meanie. :[ meet ya back at camp. im out~_

_-Vamboy17 has left the chat-_

_-Stoicman has left the chat-_

* * *

When Norway finally got back to the cabin, he wasn't surprised to find that Romania had beat him there...or that he was waiting just inside the door to spring an attack so that he could pull Nor's curl.

But since it was expected, the Romanian simply got punched on the head before he could do anything, and Norway walked by irritably. England smiled at this, knowing exactly what was going on, but the other Nordics simply stared at their brother questionably.

"Yer no fun," Romania pouted while holding his now-throbbing head.

"I never claimed to be fun," Norway said blankly and walked over to the kitchen to make himself coffee.

While the Nordic was busy, Romania took this as an opportunity to talk to the other four. Kneeling on the floor, he placed his elbows on the coffee table and laced his fingers together, resting his chin on his hands. He just stared at the four Nordics, smiling, until they asked if he wanted anything.

"Is it true that Lukas doesn't show much emotion around you guys?" he asked, still smiling as if he were up to something.

"Um...well, I guess so," Finland replied and nodded. "He's always been kind of closed off, even to us. We don't really mind though..."

"And what if I told you that I could get his expression to change?" he asked smoothly, his smile twisting into a very devilish smirk as he chuckled darkly to himself.

"That's possible?" Iceland asked, his eyes widening slightly with surprise. "How?"

Romania glanced quickly at England, who was shaking his head and smiling just a bit. He looked back and locked eyes with the youngest Nordic. "Just watch," he laughed. "If I can't get him to do it naturally in front of you guys...well, I know a little secret that can always _make_ him react. Just take the sideline and watch."

Just then, Norway walked back into the room with a coffee mug in hand and looked down at his friend cautiously, knowing that the little vampire was up to something because he was kneeling across from the Nordics and sitting in an ever-so-innocent pose with an ever-so-innocent smile plastered on his face, though his eyes glinted with mischief.

"What are you up to now?" Norway asked stoicly, though he was admitting a dark aura.

"Nooothiiiinnnngggg~" the Romanian sang and hopped to his feet, running up to the Nordic, who flinched slightly when he got too close. "Wha' d'ya say we go get some ice for the fish cooler?"

Norway stared at him as if he were an idiot. "Vlad, don't change the subject. Now what are you up to?"

"I told ya, it's nothing~!" he said and grinned widely and then turned to wave at the other five nations. "Come on, why don't we all go outside for a while? We could use some fresh air...right?" He winked at Iceland, who in turn, blushed lightly.

Norway sighed in defeat and began drinking his coffee. "Whatever. But don't think for a moment that I'll let my guard down."

"Of course. Why would I want you to?" the Romanian said sweetly as his grin only grew bigger. Nor only sighed at this and decided to just let it go, otherwise his friend would only continue lying and acting innocent.

* * *

Norway and Romania stood out on the ice of the lake, cutting out blocks of the ice to throw into the fish cooler so that their fish can stay at the right temperature. The other Nordics were out playing in the snow like children; they'd build little wall fortresses and had teams of two in which they fought the other team with snow balls. England was up by the cabin, chopping firewood and not really paying much attention to them.

"It's nice to see him getting along with someone, don't you think, Sve?" Finland asked from behind their fortress while he glanced over at the two on the lake.

"Mm," Sweden said in agreement with a nod of his head, though he was focused on throwing a snowball at Denmark's face. Finland soon joined in and helped attack the Dane, since Iceland had sort of lost interest in the fight and was now huddled behind his fortress, carefully observing his brother from afar.

Out on the ice, Romania was teasing his Norwegian friend by making all sorts of jokes that implied things about his family. Norway was certainly more embarrassed and irritated than he was amused, and that fact only urged the Romanian to push him further.

Romania wedged a tool into the ice while he looked at his friend's annoyed expression and smirked. "Come on, Luke. You know that little brother of yours must have a secret or two," he winked, not really paying attention as his body habitally cut a block from the ice and placed it on a pile they'd formed. "Just look at those boots of his. Can't help but remind me of a hooker's heels."

Norway sighed darkly. "If you are implying that my adorable little brother is a _hooker..._"

"Whoa, whoa!" Romania put his arms up in defense and smiled bigger. "I'm not implying anything at all~" he sang. "Just saying that he might be trying to attract atten- GAH!" he shouted as he suddenly slipped on the ice and fell on his butt.

At the sound of the shout, the other four Nordics looked over to see what happened and saw the Romanian sitting there, rubbing his sore behind. "He fell on his ass!" Denmark laughed, though his laughter was cut short by a loud crackling sound as Norway and Romania suddenly disappeared under the ice. "NORGE!" he shouted, and the four of them ran towards the lake. England heard his shout and turned to see what was wrong and immediately noticed the large section of water out near the middle of the lake. He dropped his hatchet and also ran toward the lake.

The water was completely freezing, and Norway's mind was in a haze. Everything happened so quickly, and now he was submerged in a dark, merky blue. Glancing around in a panic, he spotted the red-brown hair of his friend, floating down into the depths of the lake. It took all of his strength to swim down and take hold of his barely-conscious friend.

It was freezing, and Norway's body was quickly losing the strength to swim back up, now having to carry his friend as well. When he could finally see the light, it was only barely showing through the ice above him. He tried desperately to pound up at it, but his energy was quickly fading, and he couldn't breathe. Though nations could not die by drowning, it was still extremely painful and would knock them unconscious; not to mention that they _could_ suffer from frost bite and hypothermia. If they'd get stuck under the ice in the middle of winter...well, to put it simply, they wouldn't be getting out.

Faintly, he could hear the muffled shouts of his family above the ice...but his mind was quickly slipping away from him, and he began to sink once again, his grip on Romania loosening but not letting go. All he could see was the murky water around him. All he could feel was numb. And soon, he could no longer hear anything but the water pressure in his ears. And then it was gone.

And everything went black.

* * *

**So, yeah. I totally just left you guys with a huge cliff hanger...sorry. lol That actually wasn't planned to happen ^^; But you saw it coming, right? I mean, the ice breaking and all. That was kind of predictable. Happens in movies all the time. haha**

**Thanks for reading~! c: Leave a review if you wish. I enjoy them. ^_^**


	7. Laughter

**The Nordics are actually gonna see Norway like never before this chapter...and it's not just 'cos he'll be shirtless ;)**

**Apologies if OOC; Enjoy~!**

**Lukas/Stoicman****= Norway; ****Arthur/Mint-Bunny****= England; ****Vladimir/Vampboy17****= Romania**

* * *

Something was glowing; a soft, blue light surrounding him in the darkness as he slowly opened his heavy eyelids to the feeling of bitter cold.

Above, he could just barely see the dim grey-white of the ice covering the lake. His pale blond hair was floating around his head in tangled waves, apart from what little was held down by the cross pin in his bangs. In front of his face floated the pendant around his neck, a beautiful sapphire light emanating from the gem stone of the amulet's center. He could feel a warmth now engulphing him; pulsing through his body.

Norway didn't want to move, for the feeling was comforting and peaceful. However, as his limbs regained all feeling, he became aware of the wrist caught by his grip and looked down at it. The energy had traveled down his own arm and over to the Romanian's arm, slowly bringing his friend back to consciousness.

Romania's eyelids floated up, and he blinked a few times before his eyes suddenly widened with realization. He looked over at the Nordic, his eyes asking for an explanation of what was going on, and his eyes immediately fell on the glowing amulet. He nodded in silent agreement, and the two of them waited until their strength built up before beginning to swim up toward the ice.

The both of them used magic on a daily basis, so they were well aware of the fact that ancient artifacts could weild their own magical energy and mind, especially since they knew that this particular pendant held captive the soul of woman that cared for the Norwegian. To them, this was something of a miracle; proof that she was indeed trapped inside the sapphire stone, as Norway had hoped.

When they reached the ice, they found that it was too thick to push up on, so they instead traveled along it until they came to the edge of the lake, where the ice would hopefully be thinner and where they could at least have footing .

After many struggles, the ice above them shattered, and they broke through, gasping for air as the pendant went back to normal, and all warmth left their bodies. Weakly climbing out onto the bank, they both lay down in the snow and trembled while catching their breaths. They were once again too exhausted to move or even shout for help; instead, Norway whispered in a quivering voice about how stupid Romania was for causing that, and the Romanian simply let out a weak laugh.

England and the Nordics were sitting much further down the bank, hopelessly waiting for their friends to resurface from the hole they'd made out in the middle of the lake. They'd been there for maybe fourty minutes or so after much struggling from holding Denmark back when he'd initially tried to run out onto the ice in hopes of jumping in to save Norway. Instead, they'd decided to just wait and hope. After some time, they were even beginning to grief, though they knew that nations technically could not drown...but then they were all brought out of a daze by the sound of shattering ice and gasps.

The five nations rushed down the lake, where they could now see two figures laying in the snow. When they got closer and saw the two talking quietly with each other, Finland cried out of joy, and Iceland and Sweden let out sighs of relief. Denmark and England rushed up to their friends to help them.

"Oh, thank goodness you two are alright," England said with relief as he ran and knelt next to his best friends. "I was terribly worried when you guys didn't come back up."

"How long...?" Norway asked weakly without even trying to sit up. His breathing was still shakey and uneven, and he really didn't want to talk too much right then.

"Norge!" Denmark exclaimed as he lifted the wet Nordic into a tight embrace, only to grow concerned again when the other seemed to actually lean into him slightly rather than push him away as usual. "Y-you alright? It's been, like...god, I don't know. An hour? You guys were gone for a long time...I thought..."

"M'fine," Norway mumbled, trying to hide the quivering in his words and the chattering of his teeth. "Cold..." he whispered as explanation and turned his head to look at Romania, who was clinging shamelessly onto England, cuddling him for body heat. He sighed irritatingly and slowly got to his feet, stumbling into Denmark a bit. "Vlad," he demanded in his usual strong, stoic voice.

Romania turned his smiling face out of the comfort of England's chest only to be greeted by a boot to the face; literally. He fell down sideways, failing to catch himself due to the numbness in his arms. Everyone was caught off guard by this action. "W-what was that for?!" the Romanian tried to shout, but his voice was severely uneven.

"For calling my brother a hooker," Norway stated matter-of-factly and began towards the cabin, followed by the others, Sweden offering to carry the frozen Romanian while the Norwegian stubbornly told Denmark that he could walk on his own when offered to be carried.

When they got inside, England began heating hot water to make soup for the two nations who were now likely to get sick. After putting the water on, he went and gathered some fresh clothes for them. "Since you don't really have anything clean, Lukas, I just grabbed another one of Romania's outfits for you. That fine?"

"Sure," Norway agreed and grabbed the neatly-folded clothes he'd been handed.

"Man, I can barely feel my fingers," Romania stated with a laugh. "God, my dick is frozen. Ow," he complained, earning strange looks from the others. "What? It hurts."

Norway rolled his eyes and sighed, grabbing his friend's wet hair and pulling him toward the bathroom. "Let's go," he demanded and pulled him in before closing the door behind them. Denmark laughed at the thought of his shy Nordic friend stripping in front of someone when he wouldn't even take his shirt off in front of the other Nordics.

"So..." Iceland said after a bit of silence, "What was that about me being a hooker?"

* * *

Romania glanced over at Norway, who was grudgily peeling off the soaked shirt that clung to his skin. He seemed angry or annoyed or something because he wouldn't even look over or say anything.

After tossing his own shirt onto the bathroom floor, the Romanian lifted his leg to step out of his wet pants when a sudden pain shout through him. He fell sideways, catching himself on the wall and clutching his crotch.

Norway, who'd just managed to dry off and put on a fresh pair of boxers and jeans (though still shirtless), looked over at his friend and slightly raised an eyebrow. "What's your problem?" he asked slightly annoyed because he was angry that his family had seen him in such a weak state due to the Romanian's stupidity.

"A-ah...!" Romania flinched and continued to carefully take his pants off. "Dude, I think I got frostbite on my-" His eyes shot wide open when he dropped his boxers and noticed something slimey and white wrapped around his member. His expression then became completely horrified, and he screamed as loud as he could. "GET IT OFF! GET IT OFF! LUKE, GET IT OOFFFFF!" he screamed and began to thrash around, hands slipping as he tried to pull the slimey creature off of himself.

Norway couldn't help but be amused. A moment ago, he was pissed at his friend, but now he couldn't help but laugh at the scene before him. From his friend's hilarious expression to his thrashing around while completely _naked_...it was all just too much for him to keep up his serious demeanor. He tried to stop himself from laughing by covering his mouth with a hand, but it only got worse when the Romanian began freaking out more.

"DON'T LAUGH, YOU ASS! THIS IS FUCKING SERIOUS! MY LITTLE MAN'S GONNA DIE!" he shouted in anger and fear, but this only made Norway fall to the ground in laughter...which in turn made the panicking Romanian burst out of the bathroom, letting the door slam shut behind him as he ran toward the Englishman that had been quickly approaching the bathroom upon sound of the screams.

"What the bloody hell is going on?!" England shouted, and his eyes bugged out when he noticed the squid attached to his friends member. "Wha-"

"Get it off! England, PLEASE! Get it off. Get it off. Get it off!" the Romanian panicked again, and tears were now streaming down his face. "I'm gonna die. I'm gonna die. Oh my god, my little man's gonna die..." he whined.

"Are you kidding? I'm not touching that thing!" England retorted, referring more to Romania's sexual part than to the squid.

Before anyone knew what had happened, the squid was being held in Sweden's hand, limp and dead, and the other Nordics looked at him as if he were crazy. "You alright?" he asked the naked man, whose dick was bleeding a bit from being bitten and squeezed by the creature.

"Y...yeah..." Romania answered, a bit shocked because he didn't even notice the Swedish man reach down there in the first place. "T-thanks..." he said awkwardly.

Sweden nodded and tossed the dead squid to Denmark, who fumbled with catching it and then dropped it upon realizing that it'd been attached to some guy's member. "Um..." he said and then tried to change the subject so that he wouldn't have to pick it up. "So where's Norge?"

Something in Romania snapped then, and he snarled, gritting his teeth. "You wanna know where that ass is?" he asked, though it was more demanding. England turned toward him and gave him a questioning look. "That jerk," he said, pointing back toward the bathroom door, "is in there _laughing_ his ass off because he thought this was _funny!_"

The Nordics blinked as if trying to process that. "Norway doesn't laugh," Finland stated, disbelieving. The others nodded in agreement, thinking that maybe he was making this up or exaggerating.

"Maybe he doesn't laugh or even smile in front of you guys, but he sure as hell was laughing when this happened." He turned and marched back toward the bathroom, swinging the door open and looking over to the Norwegian who was lying on the floor shirtless and catching his breath; his face red from laughter and tears pricking the corners of his eyes. For once, his eyes weren't hollow-looking but actually seemed to sparkle with a rare sense of joy; or amusement.

Romania glared at him, and luckily for Norway, the others could not see what exactly he was glaring at due to the wall blocking him from their sight. Noting the pure anger on his friend's face while he stood there naked in the doorway, Nor couldn't help but laugh again quietly, trying to cover his mouth so that he wouldn't get caught. This only made Romania snap more.

From outside, England and the Nordics could hear a faint and muffled laugh coming from the bathroom, and it clearly wasn't the Romanian, whom they could see standing in the doorway. "No way..." Iceland wondered out loud, barely believing that his brother was actually laughing out loud.

A moment later, the shirtless Nordic was shoved out of the bathroom, door slammed in his face. He didn't notice the other five behind him and instead knocked on the door. "...Can I have my shirt...?" he asked, and the door flew open for a moment for a red sweater to be thrown into his face (literally) before it slammed shut again and locked. It was another few seconds before Norway half turned and noticed the group of nations standing behind him.

England smirked when he saw how red his usually-pale friend's face was, and then he noticed the slight tears at the corners of his eyes, not to mention how lively the Norwegian's eyes looked compared to how they usually were. "Lose control of yourself, Lukas?" he asked jokingly.

Norway actually smiled back and gave a small snort-kind-of-laugh. "Just a bit," he answered and then pulled the shirt over his head. It was a red sweater (Romania's, remember?) with long, skinny sleeves, and the shirt collar was large enough to reveal most of his shoulders. It was somewhat girly, but he had to do with it. With that, he walked over and grabbed a comb from a bag so that he could fix his hair, which was tangled messily due to the water.

The Nordics were relatively stunned by Norway's unstoic appearance. "He smiled..." Denmark said wonderously. "Norge, you actually smiled!" he exclaimed cheerfully and ran to his friend for a hug, though he was quickly shoved away. "I didn't think you knew how to smile," he said and then noticed a slight blush on the other's cheeks as he tried to avert his eyes. Finland then ran up and pulled the Norwegian into a tight hug, followed by Sve and the Dane. Iceland refused to stoop so low.

After they'd finished fussing over Norway, they let him eat his soup at the coffee table by the fire while the four of them sat on the couch, also eating soup. England began to converse with them about how Norway's emotions always get mixed up since he doesn't use them too often, hence explaining why he had cried while he laughed.

The others then began to poke fun at the Norwegian, Iceland much to happy for having the tables turned for once, and Norway clearly getting irritated at the fact that he'd never live this down and that they'd probably _try_ to get him to laugh from now on, since they now knew that it was actually possible.

Norway sighed and tried to ignore them...until his attention, as well as theirs and England's was turned toward the fully-clothed Romanian that finally emerged from the bathroom and took a seat at the far end of the table with a bowl of soup, not even sending a glance his way.

"Don't you want to sit by the fire?" England asked only to receive a stubborn shake of the head.

Romania glared over at his Norwegian friend, clearly holding a grudge for being laughed at instead of helped. He said nothing and turned back to eat his soup. "Told ya I'd get his expression to change," he said with a smirk as he looked across at the four Nordics seated on the couch.

"That so?" Norway asked, now aware that his friend had been planning on doing something anyway. He looked over at Romania, his expression returned to its stoic self, though there was a devious spark in his eyes.

Romania gave him a lopsided grin, revealing his pointed fang, and chuckled lightly to himself. "Ah, Luke~" he sighed. "I can't _wait_ to show them your little weakness," he sang and slurped the soup on his spoon.

Norway took a bite of his own soup and swallowed. "Challenge accepted," he smirked as he took another spoonful.

* * *

**I'm sure we all know what Norge's little weakness is. But really, wow...seven chapters...**

**Thanks for reading~! c: Leave a review if you can. I enjoy them. ^_^**


	8. Silence

**I am terribly far behind on this due to college...Updates may not be as often now... Anyway, I'm actually gonna make progress in the story this chapter.**

**Italicized sections are flashbacks.**  
**Apologies if OOC; Enjoy~!**

**Lukas/Stoicman****= Norway;**** Arthur/Mint-Bunny****= England; ****Vladimir/Vampboy17****= Romania**

* * *

A number of days had passed since the little _'incident'_, and it had been spent mainly with Norway and Romania doing things to get at each others' throats...in a friendly way, of course. Needless to say, Denmark was glad to see the Norwegian's irritation focused on someone else for once.

However, as the time drew nearer and nearer to _that day,_ Norway started to have dreams again. He tried to not let it show, but he was reliving memories of his past...and his biggest regret.

_"What do you mean?" Lukas asked the man on the thrown, using Old Norse. He was bewildered by this particular 'duty' he'd been given by the king of his Norse homeland._

_"I can understand that you would find this information shocking," the man with the intimidating stare said as he leaned his head on a hand that he'd propped up on the railing of his thrown. "But I assure you, Lukas Bondevik, that I do not lie." His voice was stern._

_Lukas' eyes widened. "But...personifications? That is a bit..." He scrunched his face in disbelief and grimaced. But he quickly fixed his expression when his king's deep and powerful voice rang throughout the room._

_"Do not question me, boy! You will do as you are told! You are in no position to refuse," the king scolded, and Lukas sheepishly nodded._

_"Yes, your majesty..."_

_The king straightened himself in his seat and stared down at the young Norwegian man. He looked down on him, controlled him. And there was nothing the boy could do about it. This was by the king's order, and no matter how absurd the idea was, he was entitled to complete his duty. He had no right to refuse._

_"Very well," the king sighed irritably. "Repeat to me your duty."_

_Lukas nodded and swallowed. "I am to become the Kingdom of Norway," he stated and waited for a reaction._

_If the king was pleased with this answer, he did not show it, for his expression was nothing but a foreboding blank mask; his eyes hollow pits of nothing...yet everything. "You may go."_

_The young Norwegian bowed and turned on his heel to head toward the front doors of the castle. He seemed to be in a hurry to leave, yet he seemed slightly reluctant as well. His king noticed this and called out to him once more before he'd reached the doors, and he stopped in his tracks and turned to face one who'd spoken._

_"Yes, your majesty?" He looked his king in the eyes; something that very few people could do without getting harsh punishment._

_The king glanced at the guards by the door and the servants off to the side, and then he motioned with his hand for them to leave the room. They quickly bowed and did as they were told. Lukas was now alone with the king._

_"You wanted to ask something?" the king asked, wasting no time._

_Lukas gulped lightly and took a few steps forward to make up for the distance he'd made between them. "Your majesty, I...just wanted to know why. You know...why me?"_

_The king sighed. "Lukas, my boy," he began and smirked slightly in amusement. "You are being wedded to my daughter. You will become one of our royal family, and the people seem to take a liking to you as well." He paused, noting the young man's still-slightly-confused expression and continued, looking less amused. "You may not be the most intelligent or collected person in the world, but our high officials have decided upon you, and that is not going to change. Personally, I do not think a naive, childish fool such as yourself can handle such an important role...but we have no say in the matter. You WILL become the Kingdom of Norway."_

_..._

_It was the ninth century in a Norse land residing in Northern Europe. A young man in the nineteenth year of age had been chosen to represent their new-coming nation as the personification of the Kingdom of Norway._

_That man...was Lukas Bondevik._

* * *

"Earth to Nooorrrggeeee~!" Denmark sang as he waved a hand in front of the Norwegian nation's face.

Norway blinked as he came back from dreamland. Glancing over at the Dane, he tried his best to look irritated, but his expression ended up with his eyebrows furrowing more in confused sadness than anything, though it certainly wasn't his intent.

Now Denmark blinked and stared at Norway, his lips forming a small 'O' out of surprise. "Nor?" The latter turned away and began staring into the mug of once-hot coffee he'd been drinking before his mind had wondered off to la-la-land. "Hey, Nor, what's up? Somethin' wrong?" the Dane joked but then became a bit more serious when he got no answer. "Seriously, Nor. I mean it. Is there something bothering you?"

"Yeah. You."

Denmark paused and gave it a moment for those words to click in his mind. "...Wow, Norge. That's just mean."

"Well you were the one who asked, so do not complain if I answer you," the Norwegian scolded a bit harshly.

"Wow, no need to be so grumpy," the Dane pouted angrily and walked over to the ladder, climbing to head up to bed. He and Norway were currently the only ones in the cabin, and he really didn't want to suffer the other Nordic's wrath should he do anything stupid. So, he just knelt at the railing that overlooked the room below, silently watching his Norwegian friend as he waited for the others to get back.

Norway was sitting cross-legged on the floor with his back to the fire. He was holding his coffee loosely in his lap and staring into it; or more accurately, his gaze was there. He wasn't truly looking anywhere, for his mind had already gone back to his deep thoughts; his memories.

Denmark watched him carefully, trying to figure out what the other Nordic could be thinking about. After a while, when he was about to give up and go to bed, he noticed something that immediately caught his attention.

Norway's hands were trembling.

Even from afar, Denmark could see how the liquid drink sloshed around and shook. From there, he noted that the hands gripping the mug had tightened, the knuckles now white. Unfortunately, he could not see Norway's face due to his head being tilted down toward the cup, not to mention being in the shadow cast by the fire.

At that moment, England and the other three Nordics entered the cabin, each carrying a large pile of sticks and branches. They headed through a doorway on the wall opposite of the 'living room' and beside the ladder that led to the small bedroom balcony. In that room, they piled the wood along the wall next to a few large piles of chopped firewood. When they'd finished, they started getting ready for bed.

Hours into the night, silence spread through the cabin like a virus. The magic trio sat down by the crackling fire in peace; England sipping tea in his arm chair, Romania sipping wine on the end of the couch (farthest from the fireplace), and Norway just sitting silently at the opposite end of the couch, staring into the fire as his glassy eyes reflected the flames that danced around vigorously.

Upstairs, four Nordics (who were thought to be asleep by now) were laying on their stomachs with their heads at the bottom of the bed. Well, technically Iceland was laying sideways on the bench at the bed's end, but you know...either way, they were tiredly watching the other three nations from above. Denmark had told them how weird Norway was acting, so they'd agreed to stay up and spy.

* * *

England and Romania exchanged looks of understanding worry before switching their attention to the Norwegian between them. It was always like this the closer they got to _that day_ during their journey. He would get lost in his thoughts and painful memories. This year _was_ different, after all, and they knew it would have some sort of effect on his mental state.

England leaned forward to place his empty tea cup on the coffee table. He made eye contact with Norway as he pulled back, only to notice that the latter nation was staring at nothing.

The Englishman sighed. "I understand your worries, Lukas," he began. "However, this year _is_ different...we have what we need, after all."

Norway's head lifted slightly, but he still did not look at anything in particular. "That does not guarantee the result will be different," he countered spitefully.

Understanding that his friend's frustration was not directed towards him, England shook his head and smiled sadly. "No, it does not." He looked down at the floor, feeling guilty for bringing it up.

Another silence stretched throughout the room, and the still air was just barely disrupted by the slight shaking of the Nordic nation. His hands would not stop shaking as he curled his fingers tightly into his pant legs and formed fists.

Romania silently passed him the glass of wine he'd been drinking. Norway took it right away and quickly chugged it. He was upset with how fast it was gone though, so he gently placed the empty glass onto the table in front of him to keep himself from accidentally breaking it.

"Do you have anything stronger?" Norway asked the Romanian while clenching his eyes shut and leaning forward, face in hands.

The other two looked a bit worried. "Luke, you shouldn't just drink your worries away," Romania informed his, looking sympathetically at his friend.

"Well what the hell am I supposed to do?!" the Norwegian shouted, shocking the spying Nordics. He then hitched his breath and sighed deeply before apologizing. "I'm sorry," he said and leaned back into the couch, making it difficult for the spies to get a good view of him.

"It's fine," Romania said with a saddened smile. "It's perfectly understandable, Lukas."

"It's not fine, Vlad," Norway countered exhaustingly. "I keep treating you guys like shit...I'm honestly surprised you haven't left me yet." He sighed and then mumbled in a voice too low for the spying Nordics to hear, "Everyone else does at some point."

"Luke...you haven't been treating us like shit," Romania assured in a sweet and calming voice. He moved from the end of the couch to the middle so that he was right beside his friend and rested a hand on his back to try and sooth him. "Really, it's fine. I know this is hard for you."

England nodded slowly. "We do not mind helping a friend, Lukas." A nice smile graced his lips. "I actually rather enjoy this time with you lads."

Norway only sighed in defeat. He really did feel bad that they were always there for him like this...and he couldn't really do much to thank them for it. On top of all his troubles, he felt guilt. If it weren't for his two best friends suffering through this 'journey' with him, he would have lost his mind long ago.

Romania nodded vigorously to what England had said. "He's right, Luke. I really do like comin' out here with you. I look forward to this every year." He paused, realizing that what he said could be taken the wrong way. "Well...you know...I look forward to hanging out with you guys."

Norway huffed and leaned back into the couch as far as he could, tilting his head to look at the ceiling. "I like it too...but I just don't think I can do this anymore," he said quietly, though it was loud enough for the Nordics to hear. His friends looked at him sympathetically; pitifully. He continued, "I keep getting my hopes up every year, and it never results in anything but disappointment. This year is different, yeah..." He pulled the amulet out of his shirt and held it in his hand, rubbing his thumb along the stone.

"It is different," England said. "Which means that something will happen differently this year," he assured.

"Yes, it will," Norway told them. "This time...if nothing happens...then I will cease my efforts."

The two others gasped and froze, looking at him with widened eyes. "Lukas...you're not giving up, are you?" England asked, shocked. "No. That is not like you at all."

"Tch," the Norwegian scoffed. "I know..." he said somewhat sadly and left the room to silence once again. "But I just can't keep doing this to myself." He brought his legs up, his feet pushing lightly on the edge of the coffee table. His hands slid up over his face, his head still tilted toward the ceiling. He gripped his hair.

And he let the silent tears fall.

Romania rubbed his shoulder soothingly, for once not saying anything, and England got up from his chair to kneel in front of Norway, placing his hand on his friend's knee.

From the balcony, the Nordics could see the Englishman, most of the Romanian, and most of the Norwegian's body. They could not see his face because he was leaning back, and it was blocked by the corner of the wall. They didn't understand what was happening, but it was clear that something was bothering the fifth Nordic.

"I understand that this is hard for you, Lukas, but believe me when I say that I know what it's like to lose someone," England told him.

Norway slowly lowered the hands from his face and looked his friend in the eyes, his own gleaming with unshed tears. A few tear streaks ran down his pale cheeks. "You at least can see the ones you lost," he said in a quiet yet dark tone of voice. "I should have died along with them. I should not have been reborn as a damned nation." He clenched his fists in his lap and tried to straighten himself in his seat, though his shoulders slouched as if a weight rested upon them.

"But Luke," Romania said, leaning forward to look up at his friend's pain-stricken face, "You would not have met us then."

Pausing, Norway took a long moment to consider this idea before saying, "At least then I wouldn't know what I was missing."

It was not until several minutes later that the Nordic finally fell asleep curled up on the couch, his head resting sideways on England's lap (he'd taken Norway's seat at the end of the couch). Romania slept on the other side of the Nordic, the back of his head resting on Norway's hip. His legs were sticking up on the arm rest on the other side of the couch, his hands folded over his chest.

England was the only one still awake. He stared down at his sleeping Norwegian friend, removing the cross from his hair and placing it on the table. He tenderly ran his fingers through the platinum blond hair that now fell into Norway's face. He didn't notice the four others climb down the latter and approach the living room until they were standing there.

The tired Nordics stared at the scene before them. Never in their lives had they seen the Norwegian so trustful and cuddly. Even more so...were those dry tear streaks on his face?

England glanced up at them, a tired yet loving smile on his face. He raised a finger to his lips, gesturing for them to stay quiet as he subconsciously continued to run his fingers through the other's hair with his other hand.

The Nordics ended up falling asleep by the fire that night.

* * *

**This probably seems a bit sudden, eh? Ah well. Oh. And if you were wondering, no this is not going to turn to yaoi. haha XD Unless you want to see it that way, the Magic Trio just cares a lot for each other.**

**I wanna thank those of you who have been reviewing. You guys motivate me to continue & to update faster. Special shout out to "the secret trio", "multicultrueiskey", "AllyMCainey", "theSardonyX", "Maelstrom Alert", "seasaltflavoredsweetpeas"...and anyone else that has reviewed more than once! ****Love you guys~!**** ;u;**

**Thanks for reading~! c: Leave a review if you can. I enjoy them. ^_^**


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